Galway parking machines cost €245,000 during phase-out as income set to hit €3.35m

Galway City Council spent more than €245,000 operating its pay-and-display parking machines last year, despite the machines being progressively taken out of service during 2025.

Published 30th Sep 2026, 22:02 BST Iconic Galway City Council spent more than €245,000 operating its pay-and-display parking machines last year, despite the machines being progressively taken out of service during 2025. The figure is contained in the council’s latest parking report, which projects the council will receive more than €3.35 million in paid parking income this year.

Almost €1.96 million was collected between January and July, with the full-year figure estimated at €3.35 million for 2026.

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A further €777,776 was collected in traffic fines during the same period, with €1.33 million projected for the year.

“It should be noted that since 2022 to date, the percentage of fines in relation to paid parking floats between 20%-25% of all fines issued by Galway City Council,” the report said.

The report also examined the impact of the increase in parking charges.

The hourly parking charge increased from €2 to €2.50 on January 1 as part of Budget 2026.

“When income figures are adjusted to reflect the previous charging rate, parking revenue trends are broadly consistent with those experienced in previous years, indicating that the increase is largely in line with expected usage patterns,” the report stated.

Digital Plus has now been the sole parking payment system in Galway City for around a year.

Galway parking income is on the rise as council plans new audit The report noted that the main financial benefit of going digital is the reduction in operating cost as the Digital Plus system costs an estimated €100,000 to €120,000 annually.

The council also spent €165,387 in once-off costs during the switch to digital, including public information campaigns, signage upgrades, machine covers and customer awareness measures.

More than 70,000 people regularly use the system, which processes around 2,600 transactions a day and more than 64,000 a month.

The Galway City Parking App and website account for 87% of payments, with 8% made through the Payzone App and 4% through Payzone shops.

The report also shows the number of resident parking permits has remained largely unchanged.

However, a presentation of the parking report was deferred at a recent meeting of Galway City Council until councillors hold a workshop on the issue.

Council officials said workshop dates would be circulated and a kerbside assessment would be available for the discussion, which is expected to take place before the end of October.

Cllr Niall McNelis (Lab) raised concerns about the timing, with the council’s budget meeting due in November.

He said “major decisions” needed to be made on parking, describing the issue as “serious”.